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What Else Facebook Could Have Bought With $19 Billion

One app cost Facebook $19 billion. Here are some other companies Facebook could have bought.

Nineteen billion dollars is no small sum. That's the amount (including the value of common shares and restricted stock units) that Facebook(NASDAQ:FB) has agreed to pay for WhatsApp, a multiplatform messaging service that bypasses SMS and uses the Internet for messages. As Fool contributor Daniel Sparks explains in the video below, $19 billion is enough to buy some formidable companies.

While it's surprising that Facebook paid that much for a 55-employee messaging service that is only five years old, Daniel suggests investors look past the surface. Not only does WhatsApp have a highly engaged massive base of 450 million monthly active users, but this base is growing fast -- faster than Facebook was at that stage, actually.

Nevertheless, it's useful to see what kind of value $19 billion could buy by looking at comparable publicly traded companies. Check out the video below to see what else Facebook could have purchased with that massive sum.

Daniel Sparks has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Chipotle Mexican Grill, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Under Armour. The Motley Fool owns shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Under Armour. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.